CANADA IS BLEEDING

CANADA IS BLEEDING

For years now, there have been some serious problems in our country and they keep worsening. Every family has their disagreements, but many become dysfunctional, and some even fracture permanently. I fear our country is travelling such a road. I hope I am wrong, but the symptoms are everywhere.

Liberalism is running rampant in our land. While this will suit many in Ontario just fine, many others feel that their beliefs and aspirations are not being represented.

Quebec, a separatist hotspot, has all but closed the door on nationalism, thanks to the mistrust that Pierre Trudeau instilled in that province, and which has been magnified by the corruption of the current government. With the next federal election looming on the horizon, one can only speculate the blow that this will be to Canada in the province of Quebec. Feeling betrayed, the people of that province are expected to give the Bloc Quebecois a huge victory.

Eastern Canada has just struck a deal with Ottawa that will see a huge winfall for the Atlantic provinces by way of the Hibernia oil project. This should alleviate some of the tension that has been felt there for years due to the fisheries crisis and abject poverty. While Canada had placed a moratorium on fishing fleets to reduce the catch of many some species to allow the stocks to rebound, international fishing boats were constantly overfishing off of the Grand Banks. The Canadian government should have sunk a few to back up our rightful claims that conservation was needed, and to back up our own fishermen, who were going hungry and losing their boats.

Ontario continues to grow, prosper, and increase in wealth. At the same time, the cost of our government skyrockets as our politicians try to be everything to everyone. Immigration is rapidly erasing all memories of the Toronto of yesterday and is becoming a mosaic that some embrace, and some do not. The rest of Canada is becoming more and more frustrated by the voting habits of this one province, which seems to control the destiny of everyone with its huge voting block.

Alberta has gained enormous power with its oil reserves. While a functioning Canada would see this shared amongst all provinces, that is not likely to happen. Albertans are fed up with eastern Canada constantly snubbing its nose at the west, be it through fiscal policy or political choices. Albertans are for the most part conservative, which is evident with the re-election several times of Ralph Klein. Albertans elected four individuals that they would like to have represent them in the Senate, as John Chretien was obliged to appoint a senator from Alberta a few years back. Instead of acquiescing to their wishes, he thumbed his nose at them and installed someone as a patronage appointment, unlike the previous Conservative prime minister, who honored the wishes of Alberta’s voters.

Our neighbors in Saskatchewan and Alberta have plenty to be upset about. There was the national energy program brought in by the Liberals that stripped the west of immense wealth and gave it to the rest of the country, there is the American border which is only now opening for their beef, which seems to be the last worry for the current liberal government, and there is the correct impression that their votes do not matter. There is a saying in western Canada that says that the election is over at the Manitoba border. For all intents and purposes they are correct. This needs to change, as Ontario and Quebec have far too much say right now, leaving the west without an audible voice.

If you do a web search for “Alberta Separation”, I think you will be surprised at the number of websites there are calling for exactly that. People used to ignore Quebec’s complaints, and look where that got us. Separation is not just a French issue, but is threatening many provinces.

British Columbia has been struggling through a softwood lumber dispute with the Americans for a long time, and has won numerous legal battles, but are still suffering from discriminatory practices south of the border. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of help coming from Ottawa in this matter, and more has to be done.

Our last several federal governments have spent a great deal of time dealing with issues that focus mainly on Quebec and Ontario. It is no surprise that the rest of the country feels unimportant. As well, our health care system has become a crisis that is not easily fixed. Provinces wishing to fix it their way are having their hands tied behind their backs and are being threatened with losing their transfer payments if they don’t play by Ottawa’s rules.

We have a federal government that is currently acting like a dictatorship. It doesn’t truly hear the complaints of the provinces. It pretends to listen, but it doesn’t hear them. The resulting frustration is mounting, and the Canada we love is becoming strained.

We have a supreme court that has been stacked with liberal socialists, further alienating our conservative family members from other provinces, who are seeing their laws and values being ruled as unconstitutional, and as a result, their values and moral judgments are being made null and void.

As Ottawa and central Canada continue to impose their social agenda and political will on the rest of the country without giving them equal or fair representation, this will only get worse, and the fracturing will increase.

Let’s hope we elect a leader who understands this before it is too late.